Background of my journey. It has been a long time since I last updated my journey on Invisalign Treatment. The truth is I have a Invisalign Mid Course Correction (MCC) and the whole of 2015 was reset. MCC is Invisalign Mid-course correction (mCC) is an option to order new aligners during treatment if clinical results have deviated to such an extent that the aligner(s) no longer fits.

A quick look at my journey so far. Before I go on to explain, let’s recap what I have documented so far.

In Part 1, dated 4 March 2014, I have mentioned:

What is Invisalign and How does it work?

Where does Invisalign come from?

Why do I want to go for Invisalign treatment at near 50?

Who is the most experienced and reliable Invisalign doctor in Singapore?

How reliable is Invisalign?

How much does it cost?

How is it different from traditional braces?

In Part 2, dated 23 Jun 2014, I have mentioned

My Dentist Appointments

My Treatment Plan

In Part 3, dated 15 Oct 2014, I have mentioned

Week 15th of 47 progress

Standard Doctor’s instruction for Invisalign patients.

Shared my own personal experiences of wearing invisalign

Opening of the i.Dental Invisalign Dedicated Clinic.

By Jan 2015, I realised my 17th aligners didn’t fit and Dr Cheng from i.Dental told me I need a Mid Course Correction (MCC). MCC is Invisalign Mid-course correction (mCC) is an option to order new aligners during treatment if clinical results have deviated to such an extent that the aligner(s) no longer fits.

Reasons for MCC

Tooth issues/decay. If someone has a tooth decay or has some unforen serious issues with their teeth, then perhaps Invisalign will need a MCC.

Unmotivated or Incooperative patient. This situation occurs when a patient didn’t have the discipline to wear their aligners for 20 hours a day. Wearing it only when you are asleep or when you are at home simply wont enable your teeth to move as effectively as you thought. As you have guessed by now, my problem was due to the fact that I am not very discipline. This bad habit eventually landed me on a Invisalign MCC. To make matters worse, I delay going back to i.Dental for 6 months to restart the new treatment plan due to frequent traveling.

What is involved in MCC?

Stop current treatment plan. I had to abort the old treatment which could have taken 47 aligners, I stopped at 17th with 30 to go. It means I have to go on a brand new treatment plan and going through the entire process all over again as if I am a new patient.

Removal of Old attachment. Removing old attachment is a must since their positions are no longer relevant to new treatment plan. Perhaps the only good thing MCC is removing the old attachment and feel normal again for 2-3 weeks.

Scaling and Polishing. Since I had to do a new mould. Scaling and polishing are necessary and I am due for one anyway. Some people may be sensitive teeth and dislike the process but I must say I enjoyed it very much. The Oral Hygenist who did scaling and polishing for me was Ms Leong Peiqi,

Making of new mould. Since my problem happened at the upper set of teeth, I did a mould just for the upper jaw. It is sinking your teeth onto a semi liquid solution which quickly hardened around your teeth to replicate the shape of your entire set of teeth for digitalisation of new aligners later.

Arrival of new set of aligners. After the mould is sent, the new treatment plan will be drawn and aligners will be made.

Installation of new attachment. Dr Chung Qi-Yan, did the new attachment for me following the new plan. For those of you do want to know, it is like sticking small pieces of diamond on the side of your teeth.

Implement a new treatment schedule. On the 1st visit to collect my aligners I have to meet Dr Cheng again who gently but firmly reminded me I had to be discipline for myself. Aligners have helped me to straighten my teeth a lot. If I stop half way it will a big waste. The visual mental picture of that actually provide a renewed motivation.

New Treatment Schedule. Let’s do a quick overview of both the old and new plan

Old Treatment Plan

Start: April 2014

End : Jan 2016

Aligners : 47

Weeks : 94

Mid Course Correction

Problem started Jan 2015

Aligner number : 14

Remarks: Due to my busy schedule, I had a further delay of MCC for another 6 months

New Treatment Plan

Start: July 2015

End : Mar 2016

Aligners : 37

Weeks : 37

Currently : Ailgner 26th and my next dental appointment is on 7 th Jan to collect 27th to 37th aligners

Key personal lessons from MCC

Invisalign has showed visible results and it will work to straighten teeth as long as there is no serious malocclusions.

Wearing 20 hours minimum a day is a must if you want to avoid MCC. If you show discipline and motivation to wear them, the treatment plan MAY be shortened by the doctor proposing to change aligners once in 10 days or event 7 days instead of usual 14 days.

Whenever you are not discipline to wear, the treatment plan will be off course. You may feel the aligners are working fine but the errors will eventually show and one fine day, the aligners will no longer fit.

MCC will lengthen your treatment plan and you will surely be receiving friendly counseling from your dentist to be more discipline.

The friendly staff of I.dental Invisalign Dedicated has constantly reminded me of my appointment. In fact they were the ones who arranged my appointment for MCC even when I had a break for 6 months.